T in the Park to be aimed at over 18s if festival returns to Perthshire in 2018

Geoff Ellis is holding out hope that ongoing talks with Perth and Kinross planners aimed at bringing Scotland’s biggest music festival back to Strathallan Castle will bear fruit

BY Gordon Bannerman

28th February 2017,11:57 am

Updated: 28th February 2017,12:42 pm

T IN THE PARK will be aimed at an over 18 crowd if the festival returns to Perthshire in 2018.

Geoff Ellis, chief executive of DF Concerts, is holding out hope that ongoing talks with Perth and Kinross planners aimed at bringing the festival back to Strathallan Castle and potentially putting in place over 18 restrictions for zones like the campsite, could lead to its return.

TRNSMT has been announced as this year’s new summer festival to replace T in the Park

But speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, Mr Ellis said: “We do events all over Scotland and are always looking at sites but for ‘T in the Park’ specifically, no we are not looking at anywhere else at the moment.

“We are confident and hopeful but we are still in the throes of looking at everything.”

Mr Ellis, who said the next festival would focus on rock bands at the expense of electronic dance music, added: “What we have seen in recent years is more 16 and 17 year olds going a bit crazy.

“It does mean families can’t come to the event like they have done traditionally since 1994. But that is something we have to do.

“You do all you can when you are organising an event to try and keep people safe. You work closely with the police and the authorities to try and manage audience behaviour.

“Generally most people do behave themselves, aren’t getting drunk or taking drugs. That’s how most festivals are. But obviously you have issues to deal with and they are at every single nightclub and pub.

“’T in the Park’ has been a rite of passage since 1994 but the core attendance has always been between 18 and 24.

“The planning constraints on us have been so onerous we have to fix those and (the year out) gives us an opportunity to address other issues,” he said.

“We knew we had to put bridges across water crossings but we now have to put them in to withstand a one in 250 year flood risk, which is frankly ridiculous. That level of flood would be passing Noah and no one would be coming to the event. Roads would be impassable and the event would long since have been cancelled.

“To have bridges that are massively over engineered at a ridiculous price is just way too prohibitive.”
Last year’s festival was marred by the deaths of two teenagers, traffic issues and a string of drug related offences.